


Numb in This Kingdom

by spellitwithyourpeas



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 17:39:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6966727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spellitwithyourpeas/pseuds/spellitwithyourpeas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short little continuation of the final scene between these two.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Numb in This Kingdom

When he called her to meet him at their old office, she was weary. It seemed so dramatic. To meet there after months of not speaking.

Karen got there first. The nostalgia hit her harder than she expected. How she loved working here. How much she poured into making this office like home for the three of them.

This was where she rebuilt herself. What she gave couldn’t be returned.

The space was empty now…. cold. She stared out the window at the street below. So much had changed. Her budding office romance turned out to be just another thorn in her side. It was so cheesy, but their date had felt magical. It felt like finally- finally everything was coming together- but with the events that followed it was as if they were trying to recreate that one moment-the spark between them under the glow of what felt like a thousand lights.

But it was a fairy tale. Make believe and transient.

Karen turned as she heard the door open, seeing Matt step in with a brown paper bag under his arm.

He folded up his cane, tossing it on the chair. When he spoke, he sounded as tired as she was, “Thanks for meeting me.”

They stood at opposite ends of the room. She was hesitant. “What am I doing here Matt?”

“I uh, I have something.”

This was already awkward enough. She didn’t want any gifts, no grand gestures. A simple explanation would be enough. Her voice is shaky, “No, I don’t want it”

But he continued, firm, “I have something …that I need you to see.”  The bag crinkled as he withdrew the mask. Karen’s stomach dropped when he handed it to her. Her fingers grazed over its smooth edges as she stared into the glassy red eyes.

“I’m Daredevil.”

Two words. It was just two words that confirmed a suspicion she hadn’t allowed her mind to explore.

A cascade of moments flashed before her like one of those flip books. The man in black, the questions and debates on morality, the touch of a gloved hand on her cheek during the abduction. All that time, the late nights, the missed calls, the bruises and cuts, and the evasions.

She had cared for him…. deeply and all that time he’d been lying. She’d told Frank it had been a swirl. Ingredients to a recipe with no name. Not yet savored, only tested.  Not love.

Karen wondered what Frank would say now.

“Who knew?” She didn’t even recognize her own voice.

He took a sharp breath, “Karen, it doesn’t mat-,” but she shook her head.

“It matters. Who knew?”

Matt sighed, “Foggy, a nurse, and Elektra, the woman who…”

The woman in his bed. The one you loved and lost. She could hear it in his voice. It was obvious. Had she been so obvious with Frank? She exhaled softly.

“Don’t blame Foggy. He was just-,”

She scoffed, angry. Her tone hard. “I’m not blaming Foggy, Matt. Why now? After all this time, why tell me now?”

“I’m tired of hiding it from you. I’m sorry Karen. I wanted to keep you safe.”

She nodded, placing the mask back in his hands. “Thanks for finally telling me. I have to go.”

“Karen, please.”

Her steps didn’t falter at his plea as she hurried out of the office. He heard the click of her heels as she walked down the hall and fade as she left the building.

Karen walked quickly away from the office. Hands shoved in her pockets as she glanced up at the night sky. She berated herself. How could she have missed this? Secrets like his always hid in plain sight.

His confession had come too late. The wound still too fresh to forgive.

There was just too much history. He meant well, but for as much as he talked about protecting people. Of keeping them safe? He sure did a hell of a job of hurting them. Isolating them to the point where she’d wonder if maybe it was her that was the problem.

Glancing at the city around her, she felt a stranger. Like when she first stepped off the bus at the station. A heavy ache bloomed in her chest as she stared at the sky lit so brightly. She missed seeing the stars. The bustle of the city didn’t consume her tonight, it only felt hollow.

She breathed in the cold air, relishing the harshness. The pit in her stomach stirring up a frenzy of emotions. Her gaze locked on her clasped, gloved hands in confusion.

Another loss. Another thing to grieve.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :) find me on [tumblr](http://lightofpage.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Title from Daughter's song "Numbers" (worth a listen!)


End file.
